New panel aims to boost ailing downtown

DEL MAR  Profit margins are thin, vacant storefronts abound and a number of merchants are struggling to survive. Downtown Del Mar is in a heap of trouble, business and civic leaders say.

“A lot of people are looking to move once their leases are out,” said Daniel Schreiber, managing partner at Del Mar Rendezvous, a Chinese restaurant on Camino Del Mar. “We’re at a real competitive disadvantage right now. Downtown is in a precarious position.”

City Hall is not immune to the challenges. Sales tax revenue, when adjusted for inflation, has been flat for years, and long-term projections show little improvement.

“The amount of competition from surrounding shopping areas has increased dramatically, with the renovation of the Del Mar Highlands and Flower Hill malls,” wrote Mayor Terry Sinnott in a recent post on the city’s website. “Our restaurants have not expanded or invested in new facilities. Feedback from some business owners is that the city’s permitting and regulation processes contribute to the perception that Del Mar is not a good location to operate a business or restaurant.”

The City Council took a modest step toward improvement Monday night when it unanimously approved the creation of a new committee charged with advising City Hall on steps it can take to boost commerce.

“In particular, the Committee will review current processes and regulations, and make recommendations to be as business-friendly as possible,” states a city report.

The 11-member Business Support Advisory Committee will comprise three retail business owners, two restaurant owners, two property owners, a representative from an office or medical business, one Del Mar Plaza representative, one Del Mar Village Association member and hotel owner or operator. It’s unclear when the City Council will appoint the members and when it will start meeting.

“It’s a great start,” Councilman Al Corti said after the Monday vote.

Many in City Hall thought Del Mar was off to a great start when the campaign for Proposition J, a measure to remake downtown, was launched last summer. The proposal would have transformed Camino Del Mar into a two-lane roadway with roundabouts at key intersections, widened sidewalks and bicycle lanes, created a mixed-use zone for the commercial properties that would allow residential development, allowed for new parking structures and increased the allowable size of retail space.

But largely because of concerns over losing half of the traffic lanes on Del Mar’s main thoroughfare, Proposition J was soundly defeated at the polls last November.

Arthur Ball, owner of Del Mar Art & Gifts, said the loss of traffic lanes would have created gridlock downtown. His solution? Better marketing.

“There are certain months when it’s great, mostly in the summer,” Ball said. “June, July, August, even into September sometimes, it’s great. But the other times during the year, it’s just a struggle. What we need to do is market the area as a cool, little, romantic seaside village, which it is, and get more people out here during the other times of the year.”

But former Mayor Richard Earnest, who serves on the Del Mar Village Association, is among those convinced that downtown’s success can only be guaranteed with a Proposition J-like makeover.